It was a 1964 Aston Martin DB5, exactly the kind of car British secret agent James Bond drove in the 1960s movies where he was played by Connery.
The Bond character has been played by a number of actors and has driven many different cars in the more than two dozen films in the series. They have everything included from BMWs and Bentleys to Chevrolets and Fords. But the 1964 is still the most famous “Bond car.”
The one who first drove Connery in the 1964 movie “Goldfinger” was an Aston Martin DB5 packed with gadgets such as machine guns, an ejection seat and an oil slick maker. More than 50 years later, Connery bought himself a 1964 DB5 — though it lacked the movie car’s weapons and gadgets — early 2018. Connery passed away nearly two years later at age 90. It was only DB5 he ever owned.
At $2.4 million, including fees to the auction company Broad Arrow, the car fetched more than originally projected. The company had expected it to sell for between $1.4 million and $1.8 million at the Monterey, California collector’s car auction. The buyer was not named. The auction is one of several collector car sales during Monterey Car Week, an annual series of classic car events on California’s Monterey Peninsula.
A 1964 Aston Martin DB5 in pristine condition from this car would normally be worth about $1 million, according to classic car insurance and event company Hagerty, which recently took over full ownership from Broad Arrow.
During his life, Connery often told his children about his fond memories of driving the Aston Martin in movies, his son Jason Connery said in an interview. When they were adults, they suggested their father buy one, but he resisted the idea.
“He’d say, ‘I don’t want to, because it feels a bit obvious, you know, with me,'” Jason Connery said. “I said, ‘But forget it, that’s not the point.'”
Barney Ruprecht, an Aston Martin specialist at Broad Arrow who had also consulted with Connery about the purchase, advised Connery not to buy a car in need of restoration, as the work would likely take a few years, he said. Instead, he and Connery looked for a car that was in near-perfect condition. According to Ruprecht, the car is still in almost that condition, with only a few folds in the seat leather as evidence that it was inside.
Once Connery bought the car, he had it repainted from black to Snow Shadow Grey, the closest color to the movie car.
But after that work was done, there was little time left to actually drive it.
“Unfortunately, as he got older, travel, especially to Europe [became difficult] and then COVID hit and…,” Jason Connery said. “You know, unfortunately he never really enjoyed the car he bought.”
According to Jason Connery, the car was kept by Connery at his home in Switzerland. He loved the car so much that he kept a picture of it on his desk.
A substantial According to the Broad Arrow Group, a portion of the proceeds from the sale will go to the Connery Family Philanthropy Fund. In addition to the car itself, the winning bidder will get a ride in the car of the famous retired Formula 1 driver Jackie Stewart.
Stewart, like Connery, is from Scotland and the two were old friends.